An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process.

An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing

efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. The Compass was one of
the great inventions of China. A compass works by detecting and responding to the earth’s
magnetic fields. It was created in the Han Dynasty back in 206 BC. A compass is a tool for
finding direction. A simple compass has a magnetic needle mounted on a pivot, or short pin.
The needle, which can spin freely, always points north. The pivot is attached to a compass
card. The Chinese made the first compasses about 2,500 years ago. To make a compass, the
Chinese used a mineral called lodestone. They shaped the lodestone into the form of a
spoon. They then placed the lodestone spoon on a flat plate made of bronze. The Compass
allowed them to travel far from land, and to return to the places they had visited before. The
needle in a compass is made of magnetized metal, usually iron, placed on a pivot or pin, and
suspended in liquid (usually some kind of mineral oil or white spirit) so it can freely turn. In
their earliest use, the compass was used as backups for when the sun, stars, or other
landmarks could not be seen, after some time, when the people learned how to read them,
it became a great navigation tool.
The invention of the compass made it possible to determine a heading when the
sky was overcast or foggy, and when landmarks were not in sight. This enabled mariners to
navigate to safety far from land, increasing sea trade, and contributing to the age of
discovery. Today, besides navigation, the compass is used in building and construction for
marking landmarks and borders, and to measure horizontal lines and vertical lines for maps.
The compass is a valuable too used in the U.S Military, as well as in mining assist in
underground navigation.
In ancient China, the compass was first used for worship, fortune-telling and
geomancy, the art of aligning buildings. In the late 11th or early 12th century, Chinese sailors
adopted the compass for astronomical and terrestrial navigation, heralding a new era in the
history of navigation. Some historians suggested that the Arabs introduced the compass
from China to Europe and the Islamic World via the Indian Ocean or was brought by the
crusaders to Europe from China.
Over the centuries several technical improvements have been made in the
magnetic compass. Many of these were pioneered by the British, whose large empire was
kept together by naval power and who relied heavily upon navigational devices. By the 13th
century, the compass needle had been mounted upon a pin standing on the bottom of the
compass bowl. At first only north and south were marked on the bowl, but then the other 30
principal points of direction that are familiar to us today were filled in. The 32 cardinal points
were originally drawn to indicate winds and were used by sailors in navigation. In
1745 Gowin Knight, an English inventor, developed a method of magnetizing steel in such a
way that it would retain its magnetization for long periods of time; his improved compass
needle was bar-shaped and large enough to bear a cap by which it could be mounted on its
pivot. The Knight compass was widely used. The compass had impacted by life, because as a
student learning geography in school the compass is an important instrument in my learning
process.
 REFERNCES

Thrones, N. (2007). The Caribbean

People. Third Edition

Rodgers, A. (2022, November 7).

Compass
https://education.nationalgeographic.o
rg/resource/compass/